


cost benefit analyses

by kythea frostfang (Relvich)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Domesticity, Emotionally Repressed, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Multi, Polyamory, allies to friends to lovers, and i mean that as in emotional literacy not as in ultimate status, anyway thisll be a trip kids, as well as theyll get in the killing game lol, at some points, help these kids, listen bro you can't tell me byakuya didn't carry weapons into fhpa, lol, naegi is the only normal kid here, send help, theyre watching me as i write this, u cannot convince me, uhhh, updates dependent on how often my roommate makes me big oof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-09-28 10:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20424275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Relvich/pseuds/kythea%20frostfang
Summary: It started slow. Reminiscent of all of his business ventures, really: waiting and watching, prowling with indifferent mask secured in place, leaving no tells to broadcast before his quick and inevitable strike. This is how he has secured his own wealth separately from his family, this is how he navigates his political pursuits, this is how he navigates his niche research. This is the principle that guides his life, and thus far, it has never led him astray - to the contrary, only when he has strayed from this self-imposed path through ignorance and youth has he ever fallen. This is his true Ultimate.This… this was the same, but also different. Never before has he ever been matched at his own game. But now… at the same time he hunts his potential business partners in this hellscape, he is hunted. And eventually -Eventually he is caught.He is caught so tightly he does not want them to ever let go.





	1. invest

Togamis did not come by trust easily.

It would be… nice, perhaps, if they did, but the truth is that they did not, and Byakuya was okay with that. Trust was not some resource to be polished and kept in a vault, after all, and it did not collect interest in his accounts. 

Well, no, that was not entirely true. He was quite adept at proving others’ trust in him well-founded; trust building to favors building to political alliances and blood-debts that have saved his life and his fortune multiple times already in his short life. In this way, trust was exactly like currency, and in this way, Byakuya had accrued millions. He was a sweet-talker that walked a fine line, never dipping into kiss-assery unless his life depended on it (and sometimes, not even then - a gun came much more reliably to his aid), and he always upheld his end of a bargain. He was already the perfect businessman, the perfect protegee of political positioning and negotiation.

All of this aside, he rarely invested his own trust in others, not even his colleagues that place… truly unsettling levels of faith in him. They did not _ know _of this, obviously, or they would not continue their inadvisable pattern, but… still, it is equal parts amusing and concerning. Don’t they know that the moment their partnership is no longer to his advantage, he will break them? Shouldn’t they, as businessmen and people themselves, know this already?

He supposes this is why he is the Ultimate.

<strike> Sometimes, late at night when the stars wink at him mockingly, he wonders whether this is why he is so lonely. </strike>

Anyway, back to the point. 

When the killing game started, he found no reason to forge any worthwhile alliance. Teenagers were finicky, less predictable than the stuffed suits he normally dealt business with; shot up with hormones and ready to kill on a _ good _ day, and less well-versed in the politeness rules of attempted assassination. If anyone attempted to kill _ him, _ anyway, they would be in for a sore surprise, as scrawny as he is, he must _ look _ like an easy target when the silhouettes of his weapons were not made apparent, and honestly? He cared not for the rest of these children. Their worries and needs and fears and _ hopes _ were all so… so small, so naive, that even if he _ had _been inclined to make friends and sing kumbaya, he would have no idea where to start. None even seemed capable of understanding his reality and his world, how this was almost normal to him, this guillotine over his head - differing circumstances, to be sure, but there has been a price over his dead body since he’d been conceived, and well. He has killed to keep that money and his life in his own hands before, and he likely would have to again. 

Besides, it is only a matter of time before they begin offing each other. His only job now is to survive to the last.

He had always been good at that.

*

It is almost startling when he realized one of the only two competent people in this whole facility had almost been framed.

Well, no. Had half-assedly _ been _ framed, the only limiting factor the sudden conscience of a dying girl as she bled out on cold bathroom tile. Fact is, the bumbling, _ trusting _Naegi had almost been pinned for murder - something he, himself, would have undoubtedly figured out before it became the entire class’ undoing, but he had almost been pinned nonetheless. 

This, however, was not the surprising element. He was familiar with the smoke and mirror of painting crime scenes with the signature of another. What was _ surprising _was that this bumbling, trusting Naegi character had come to this conclusion on his own relatively quickly and had gathered all the correct evidence required to clear his name, and more than that, uncover the absolute truth. Even through emotional duress - knowing his supposed “friend” had betrayed and planned to indirectly sign his death warrant - his logical reasonings and arguments were sound and aimed as surely as a pistol, and he wrapped up the investigation quickly. Granted, with the help of that Kyouko girl, as well (and was it truly possible to forget one’s last name in such a way? Maybe he only thinks so because calling her by her given name was entirely too intimate for his usual address).

<strike>The whole situation showed how useful _friends _are, really.</strike>

Even that, unexpected as it was, was not what was troubling him. No. That would be too easy - sudden fear of an enemy’s skill, no matter how unwarranted, was commonplace to him, and in fact, this benefitted him in the end. He knew now _ exactly _who he needed to watch out from.

But.

_ But. _

What was troubling was that it _ troubled _ him. Usually when such a naive target is peppered with shots he has no problem with it - indeed, often he’d join in, easy pickings to an easy foothold to the top. But this one… this Makoto Naegi, he had _ potential. _He had a complex mind and thoughts that orbited and clicked with symphonic tempo and…

He was different. That was all.

And Kyouko. She too was a threat.

Well…

Friends close.

Enemies _closer._

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have a couple of people to help watch his back, after all.


	2. risk

He decides to go to Naegi first. The boy seemed… far more willing to cooperate from his (admittedly sparse) knowledge and observation of him, and he felt he was far more likely to convince Kyouko if Naegi was already on his side. The girl had already shown herself willing to help him in the class trial, after all. He planned to tip that card in his own favor, here. 

God, so he hoped that that helpfulness did not belie some deeper affection. He did not need, of all things, for this high school murder game to turn to high school  _ drama _ with killings a la carte. 

He spends the day after the trial in the library - a much needed sight for sore eyes, and a quiet solace no one else seemed to need or even  _ want  _ to pierce with presence, thank heavens. Finding this place… he is almost pleased. It is almost possible to forget where he is, but the press of concealed holsters at his hip and ankle keep him grounded to this reality. He hasn’t left his rooms without them thus far - not that he generally did when he was  _ outside  _ of this hellish school - but now the reminder that his safety and life were entirely in his own hands was palpable. He had no one here, and wealth and connections were only a useful tool when you were, well. Connected to them.

Which brings him to this. His newest plan, his latest risk-reward calculation. He stared at the pages in front of him - he was sure they were to his  _ own  _ benefit and liking, of course, but were they worded in a way that Naegi would take his proffered hand? He  _ thought  _ so, but he’s never done business with someone of his age before, someone small and scared and. Not calculating. Just hopeful. Just a normal kid thrust into extraordinary circumstance, someone  _ unused  _ to this day-to-day danger.

The terms and conditions would probably suit that Kyouko character, though; he was far less worried about  _ that. _ She reminded him of himself, almost: focused, thinking with grey matter and shoving matters of the heart out of it until they proved necessary. This would be mutually beneficial to the three of them, and she would likely see that from the get-go, even if she is distrustful at first. He would expect nothing less; truthfully, it would probably take time for him to be able to rely on either of them, as well.

An alliance. A political friendship to keep themselves both in check and safe from the rest. Together they may be able to take this whole thing down without lowering themselves to the base rules of this...  _ game. _

With a determined nod he gathered up the papers, tapping them on the desk lightly, and swept from the library to wait from his rooms for the right time to strike.

*

Night fell, and Byakuya was sure to wait at least an hour after the chime to open the door to his room. Be there stragglers or potential murderers afoot, he wanted no part of it, and he wanted none of them to know any part of  _ this.  _

The hall is deserted when he entered. Precisely to plan.

And then just as he got to the door, just as his hand hovered just over Naegi’s doorbell, another door creaked open.

His eyes meet with lilac that quickly darkened with sharpened, honed like steel - funny, he hadn’t noted the color before, but he definitely knew that they were darker than usual with accusation. She strode across the hall to him, her heeled shoes absolutely silent on the floor. He hadn’t noticed that before, either. He raises a brow - quiet like that took the practice of years, and she didn’t even seem to be doing it consciously. 

He does not have time to idly wonder at who she used to be before she supposedly ‘forgot’, but later, it will keep him up. Who  _ is  _ she, anyway?

“You seem far from your nest.” 

_ What are you doing here.  _

The question was not at all disguised in her eyes. She was daring him to tell, daring him to confess to something; and again he was almost impressed. He’d danced this waltz before, a dance that orbited, near-caressed but never  _ touched _ a sensitive subject; second-nature to any heir, really, but he was not expecting to have to defer to her two-step rhythm. 

“And you seem up a tad late, Miss Kyouko.”

_ I could ask the same of you. _

“Hmph.” She glared up at him for a few moments longer before glancing to the papers tucked in the crook of his elbow. “Bringing your work with you?”

“Something like that.” He spared a fleeting look at the doorbell - he’d been so close, goddamnit. 

“Mhm. Looking for someone, more like. Why are you here - you rarely speak to anyone during the day, you don’t come to the breakfast meetings, and you’re here to - what, exactly? Have a pleasant chat at eleven thirty at night?”

Ah, so the dance was off, no longer stepping on knife-blades of tightropes. Well, honesty made for just as cruel and effective a weapon, anyway.

“If you’re implying I’m here for a murder, don’t make me laugh. Besides, I don’t need to listen to this hypocritical drivel from  _ you _ \- what,  _ exactly,  _ gives  _ you _ the right to be here? It’s not as if you heard me come down the hall, the walls are soundproof. You came here on an agenda, as well.”

Her eyes were blank, giving nothing away, and then - 

And then she pressed her finger to the doorbell, not once breaking eye contact with Byakuya. 

_ “What  _ are you - ”

The door swung open gently, revealing a disheveled Naegi in what was clearly sleepwear. He rubbed at one eye, and the Togami watched, fascinated with how casually this boy could let his guard down in front of people he barely knows, much less people locked in a death arena with him. He supposed that that is exactly what made him such an easy target - exactly why he was here.

“You guys? What’s up, it’s still nighttime right?”

“Makoto. May we come in?” Kyouko cut in, drawing Byakuya’s glare. 

A flash of hesitation from Naegi - the first he’s ever seen from him, really. It is strange until it clicks: this must be strikingly similar to how the whole ordeal with Maizono started. He cursed himself for his oversight. It is not the  _ best  _ first impression possible, and it makes something far too much like guilt curl in his stomach.

But a flash is just a flash, and the tired smile came back to his face in less than a moment.

“Yeah, yeah, come in.” He stepped from the door, allowing them to enter. Kyouko near pushed him inside, following quickly behind. A flash of annoyance - but a flash is just a flash. He tamped it down - he’d made deals with people far more unpleasant than she. How he  _ felt  _ about this didn’t  _ matter.  _ The returns would well make up for it if this worked.

“So… what’s up? I mean, this isn’t really… like either of you.” He stood before them, fidgeting with his hands in front of him. God, he was so - open. He let anyone see right through him.

“Yes, Byakuya, why  _ are  _ we here?”

Oh, that girl, implying that he’d dragged her here himself… this was not how this was supposed to go, but perhaps there was advantage to speaking to both of them at once. He sighed, shook himself of their stares, and meets their gaze with ice - first Kyouko, then Naegi.

“Miss Kyouko. Naegi. I have a proposition for the both of you, actually.” He sees Kyouko’s eyebrow raise at ‘both’, and he smirks, taking the papers into his hands and separating them into the three copies he’d made, handing them each their own whilst he continued.

“You two have shown the most potential in this… hmph, this  _ game  _ so far, and I highly doubt anyone is going to usurp that talent and potential from you. Even so, one of us has already been framed and near killed.” Naegi winced at this, rubbing the back of his head. “This said, I want to get out of this alive.  _ You  _ want to get out of this alive, I assume, and it will be much easier to pull it off if we form an alliance right here and now. No murder. No  _ getting  _ murdered whilst the other two watch over. And perhaps with our three combined efforts we can devise a way out of this mess. Hmm?”

They stared at him silent for a beat, something like wonderment in Naegi’s eyes, before Kyouko let out a soft hiss of a laugh.

“So we  _ were  _ thinking the same thought. I’d thought so after I saw you sneaking your way to Makoto’s door after lights out, but still, a surprising move on your part, to be honest.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not exactly the epitome of a team player, your heirship.” She rolled her eyes even as she scanned the pages. Surprisingly, it is Naegi who is meticulously reading each line and phrase, brows furrowed. 

He did not deign that an answer, but she spoke again a few moments later, anyway. This was  _ already  _ shaping up to be a  _ long _ partnership.

“I simultaneously can and cannot believe you went to the lengths of making an actual contract.”

“Well. It shouldn’t matter as long as you agree to the terms, yes? I just figured I’d make it more… binding. Does that not suit your preferences as well?”

“Of course  _ you  _ would have  _ paperwork  _ as a safety blanket.” 

It was a murmured statement, almost to herself,  _ almost  _ too quiet for even Byakuya’s hypervigilant hearing.

_ Almost.  _

“I am beginning to regret - ”

“You guys.” Naegi cut through their bickering like a knife, and both parties fell silent. He held in his hands the last page of the agreement, hands shaking slightly. “You need to stop this until at least the papers are signed. Byakuya, did you bring a pen?” 

“Is that a yes, then?”

“I asked you a question.”

“Oh, uh - yes, of course.” He produced a quality deep navy pen, obviously not provided by the school, and Makoto took it, walking over to the wall and signing with no more wasted breath. He handed it to Kyouko, as well, and she eyed him, pen hovering over the line.

“Just like that?” He had never believed it would be that  _ easy.  _ Candy from a baby was an understatement, at least babies  _ wailed.  _ This… he hadn’t even tried to convince him.

“Well, yeah. Friends would be nice in this game. Be nice to not have to be paranoid. Why not? Can I not trust you?”

His eyes are sharp as they locked with Byakuya’s, and a jolt of surprise ran through him. He didn’t allow it to show as he took another pen from his jacket and wordlessly signed Makoto’s copy, then his own. 

“Of course you can. I  _ don’t  _ break my deals.” He turns to Kyouko. “So?” 

She sighs, but he can tell it is feigned, and she, too, signs her own copy, then Naegi’s, and the allies make quick work of putting their names on all three. 

“Good. Then we can all trust each other. Keep your own papers, I’m going to keep mine in my room as well. We should endeavor to be together as much as possible,” He fought a self-suffering sigh - he valued his alone time, damnit - “so as to guard each other. I’d suggest the buddy system, but as there are three and not four of us…”

“Someone’d always be alone.” Kyouko finished. “So, we stay in one room, then? The only murder so far has happened at night, so it’d be preposterous not to… and it is not  _ explicitly  _ against the rules.”

“Mm. We should at least try to keep up appearances of not doing so, however. If our classmates were to find out about this agreement, we may end up drawing more fire as a consequence.” His thoughts turned involuntarily to Touko, and he shuddered, shaking his head.

“Agreed.” She gave him a quick glance of sympathy, almost as if she had read his thoughts, before shaking her own head. “The question is, then, which room? And should we switch?”

“Mine.” Makoto piped up. “I’ve already been targeted, there’s less likelihood I would be again, and uh, no offence, Byakuya, but I think you come across as standoffish to our classmates. I don’t think many of them like you.” He grinned apologetically, and Byakuya’s lips quirked upward. 

“None taken.”

“Yeah, well… I’m not turning away from the carnage she wrought and uh… I guess I’d appreciate keeping it here?”

He’d been so confident, but it sounded like he was running out of steam. It became a question, and something tugged at him to answer with a  _ yes  _ even if it  _ weren’t  _ the most obvious solution - which it was.

“Of course, Makoto.” Kyouko said, voice soft.

“Yes, that should be fine, Naegi. That makes the most sense, even.” He echoed. Makoto smiled, and something in him was pleased.

He did  _ not  _ have the time to analyze that.

“Alright. Cool. Make yourselves at home.” 

He paused.

“Y’know, if we’re gonna be friends, you can call me Makoto.”

“I’m sure I could.” Byakuya replies wryly, taking off his over-the-shoulder computer case and storing it neatly in the corner of the room. “But for now, Naegi will work fine. It would be suspicious were we to suddenly become publicly close.”

“But in our own room?”

There was something weird about hearing him say ‘our room’. Something very strange indeed. He was not used to sharing. But this was not that - it was not indignation at the disgrace, it was not resignation at the state of things. It was just… new. Different.

A new beginning, maybe.

“In our own room… give me a bit, and perhaps I will take you up on that. So… bed, then, I suppose. Who’s calling first watch?”

“Me.” Kyouko was already seated against the doorframe, book in hand. Byakuya made a mental note to take the lamp from the library down here at his next convenience.

“And I’m an early riser, so I’ll take the four am shift. You okay with the one am, Byakuya?”

“Of course.” He grunted, placing his head gently on his laptop case, already gingerly closing his eyes. He was waking up early, after all. “Probably my preferred shift after this one.”

“We can switch tomorrow.” Kyouko spoke absently, apparently absorbed in whatever book suited her fancy right now.

“Appreciated.”

“So… lights out then?” Makoto asked, hand on the lightswitch. He got two grunts in affirmation, and suddenly, darkness covered them, Kyouko switching on a little bookmark light. Makoto near-dived into his bed, looking to Byakuya with uncertainty - he shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor, they were friends now! - but in the end, neither of them had the nerve to bring it up, and Byakuya turned towards the wall he laid down next to.

“Night, team.”

“Goodnight, Naegi.”

“Night, Makoto. Sleep well.”

<strike> And when he did drift off to his dreams, there was something undeniably pleasant about the presences in the background. </strike>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey thanks to everyone reading, giving kudos, and/or commenting! it means a lot <3

**Author's Note:**

> hey i got to the party late yall my friends collectively got me into dangan ronpa in the year of our lord 2019


End file.
